Southern California -- this just in

MTA postpones planned closures of Wilshire ramps

October 21, 2011 | 3:44
pm

Transit officials said Friday that they would postpone the planned 90-day closures of the Wilshire Boulevard-405 Freeway on- and off-ramps until early next year. Construction work on the ramps had been scheduled to begin in November as part of the $1-billion freeway-widening project through the Sepulveda Pass.

In August, Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky's website said the planned improvements would turn the Wilshire ramps into "modern, swooping flyover ramps that will make it easier to navigate the notoriously jammed intersection." One problem was that the work would have coincided with the relocation of utility lines on Sepulveda and Wilshire boulevards. Metro has decided that the utility work should be completed first to avoid the "Carmageddon" congestion issues that were anticipated, but avoided, with the 405 closure in July.

In an email about the changed schedule, Kasey Shuda, the project's community relations officer, said: "I wanted to inform you that the first 90-day extended closures for ramp reconstruction, for the NB [northbound] 405 off-ramp to WB [westbound] Wilshire and WB Wilshire on-ramp to NB 405, is anticipated to begin in the first quarter of 2012. The project is currently working on relocating utility lines in Sepulveda and Wilshire, which need to be complete before ramp construction can begin."